However, there is no guarantee that policy makers will study their findings – or that even any solution will find its way into social policies. Factors such as electrical (electoral) popularity – policies unpopular with voters) and globalisation (international organisations such as the EU and IMF which may influence the social policies of individual governments) may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy.
Functionalist Durkheim, highlights sociology is a science which will discover the cause of social problems and scientific solution for them. Functionalist see the state as serving the interests of society as a whole producing and implementing rational social policies for the good of all. These policies help society run more smoothly and efficiently. Educational policies for example are seen as promoting equal opportunity and social integration, while health and housing policies assist the family in performing its functions more effectively.
Both positivist and Functionalist believe the sociologist’s role is to provide the state with objective, scientific information. By investigating social problems and discovering their causes, sociologists provide the necessary information on which the state can base its policies. Additionally, functionalists favour a cautious approach, in other words social policies such as ‘piecemeal social engineering’ which aim to tackle one specific issue at a time.
Conversely, social democratic Townsend (1979) argues that they should be involved in researching social problems and making policy recommendations to eradicate them. for example his own research on 'poverty' Townsend came to the conclusion that we should have fairer, higher benefit levels, more public spending on health, education and welfare services. Similarly the black report (1980) on class inequalities in health made 37 policy recommendations for reducing these deep rooted inequalities such as free school meals for all children improved working conditions and better housing benefits for the disabled etc.
However, Marxists criticize the social democratic perspective, highlighting no matter how many proposals are made by the black report, it is not enough to solve the problem. They see society divided into two social classes the bourgeoisies (ruling class) and proletariat (working class). Marxists argue social problems such as underachievement are simply aspects of a wider structure of class inequality, and so we need to change the basic structure of society in order to solve these specific problems. As a result, they see the state representing the ruling class and its social policies serve the interests of capitalism, not society as a whole. Ultimately, they argue it is capitalism that is responsible for these inequalities and so the problem cannot be solved without abolishing capitalism.
On the other hand, feminists see society based on gender equality; society is patriarchal benefiting men at woman’s expenses. Family policies may be based on the assumption that the normal family is the nuclear family – married couple with children. Thus if the state assumes this and benefits married couples rather than cohabiting ones it could lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy, encouraging the nuclear family as the norm and making it difficult for people to live in other kinds of families.
The new right believe that the state would have only minimal involvement in society. In their view state intervention in areas such as family life, income support, education and health care robs people of their freedom to make their own choices and undermines their sense of responsibility. This in turn leads to greater social problems, such as crime and delinquency. Charles Murray (1984) argues that generous welfare benefits and council housing for lone parents act as ‘perverse incentives’ that weaken the family’s self-reliance which encourages the growth of dependency culture and an underclass of lone mothers, undisciplined children in the knowledge that the welfare state will provide for them. For this reason Murray favours a reduction in state spending on welfare.
Ultimately, the new right believe policies should aim to restore individual responsibility for their own and their families’ welfare rather than leaving it to the state. For example ‘Breakdown Britain’ the social justice policy group (2007) proposes a range of new policies aimed at the family. Such as marriage preparation and parenting classes the reports main thrust is that governments have stripped citizens of responsibility for their own welfare and neglected the support networks that give people their quality of life. Hence the new right argue the role of social policy should be to enable people to help themselves, rather than the welfare state attempting, and failing, to do it for them.
by
joseygal16 (student)
